Planned Gifts
The donor makes planned gifts with an eye on the future, typically as part of retirement- and estate-planning.
A life-income gift results in the donor (or a person the donor designates) receiving income for life; after the income-beneficiary dies, SILS uses the gift as intended by the donor. Example: A retired librarian wants to set up a $100,000 scholarship endowment for library science students. She gives the UNC-CH Foundation Gift Annuity Program appreciated stock worth $100,000. She avoids capital gains tax on a portion of the appreciation, and she receives income for the rest of her life. After her death, the foundation manages her gift-money as an endowment and begins awarding scholarships from the income, as she planned. Life-income gifts have tremendous benefits for people who want to make a major gift to SILS but need to keep the income their assets can produce, for example, to fund their retirement years.
Two important notes: (1) the legal and tax aspects of making a life-income gift mean that a donor must seek expert assistance from a qualified tax advisor; and (2) a life-income gift is irrevocable; the donor cannot later change his or her mind. There are many differences among kinds of life-income gifts, but their common advantage is twofold: income to the donor or a designated beneficiary and favorable tax treatment. Here are four types of life-income gifts with these advantages.
Pays a fixed dollar amount for life; amount of payout is based on the income-beneficiary's age at time contract is signed; gift annuities are state-regulated and are not available in every state. Advantages: low minimum contribution; fixed payout.
Donor claims an immediate income tax deduction but defers receipt of income for a specified term of years; most likely to be used by a working person planning for retirement. Advantages: low minimum contribution; tax deduction taken during donor's younger, higher-income years.
Charitable Remainder TrustAn irrevocable trust with SILS as the charitable beneficiary; donor specifies how income and principal are to be distributed; trust can be made to last for the lifetime of the donor or for a period of up to 20 years. Advantage: more control by donor including choice of trustee.
Similar to a mutual fund in that individual contributions are pooled for investment; net income of fund is distributed on the basis of the number and value of "shares" held by each donor; this means income is not fixed but will vary with market returns. Advantage: donor can participate fully in higher returns of a well-managed fund in good years.
A charitable lead trust is just the reverse of a life-income gift: here the donor gives SILS the income from a capital asset for a period of years, after which the asset goes to someone else. Typically, this is an estate-planning tool used by wealthy people who want to benefit charities for a period of years before leaving the assets to their heirs.
A bequest is made when a donor puts the School in his or her will; the gift is triggered by the donor's death.
Other optionsHome | Why
Give? | How
to Give | Gift
Funds | Contact
Us
SILS Home Page
| UNC-Chapel Hill | UNC-CH
Development
UNC-CH General Alumni
Association